I AM frequently perplexed. All sorts of things perplex me – from the workings of the cooker timer and DVD remote control to the forms sent out by the Student Loans Company.

On an almost daily basis I am perplexed by my PC at work, which seems to sense that my computing powers are weak and acts up accordingly. So perhaps the person who left a copy of the book Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed on my desk thought they were doing me a favour. Of course, it seems unlikely that someone who struggles to re-set a digital alarm clock and only scraped an O level in physics will be able to grasp the finer points of quantum mechanics but, having recovered from my initial surprise to receive such a book, I decided to give it a go. Chapter one saw me settled down on the sofa with my resident physicist (Firstborn) close at hand to explain anything I didn’t understand, which turned out to be quite a lot. “So,” I said, after reading and re-reading the unlikely tale of how atoms behave differently depending on whether they are being observed or not, “why do they change their behaviour?” “Because they’re being observed,” said M Phys, as if that made it completely clear. “Observation changes the outcome.” I had visions of little atoms shyly peeking out from behind the laboratory apparatus to see if anyone is looking before making a dash for it. Of course I couldn’t admit this. By Chapter Four I was lost in Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and probability clouds. The probability of me finishing the book was rapidly nose-diving. According to the author of Quantum, Jim Al-Khalili, it is said that if you are not shocked by quantum mechanics then you clearly don’t understand it. After clawing my way through the first third of the book I can safely say that I am more perplexed than ever and more shocked by my stupidity than anything else. At work this week I discovered who left the book on my desk. It was, it turned out, a gift for Firstborn, who, as it happens, is the least perplexed person I know.